Ringing Bell. Have you seen Ringing Bell? I can’t believe I didn’t know about this film until a few weeks ago.

Ringing Bell (Chirin no suzu) is a Japanese film released in 1978 by Sanrio, the very same company that gave us Hello Kitty.

Ringing Bell is about a cuddly little lamb (“Ringing Bell”) who is always getting lost, and whose mother therefore outfits him with (guess what?) a ringing bell.

Ringing Bell’s mother warns Ringing Bell not to venture beyond the paddock, for fear of the wolf who lurks out there, being the mortal enemy of the lamb!

Can you guess what happens to Ringing Bell?

No, you cannot, because this movie is totally messed up.

I don’t want to spoil it for you, but you should know that Ringing Bell is (according to its Wikipedia entry) “most notable by fans and critics as a G-rated children’s film which makes a sharp-sudden turn into a dark and violent story” and “recognized as one of the only Japanese shock films directed towards children.”

With that said, you should not hesitate to watch it!

To which end—here it is! Enjoy it!

You have two choices:

The original Japanese-language version, subtitled in English:

… or an English-language dub:

Related: “Gimme Gimme ‘Kure Kure Takora’” & Hausu